Frangipani
by Lanii
Summary: The Chaotix rescue a young feline from the clutches of the Dark Legion- but she seems so frail, so fragile- so powerless. So why is Dimitri so adamant in getting her back? Rated PG13 for language. Rating may change. Chapter 1 up and all!
1. Rescue

Hallooo! ^_^~ It is I. The one who hasn't written fan fiction in like, three million years. ._. SIGH, please be kind, and gentle, and magnanimous. I'm trying this out. Comments towards improvement are welcome. Flames will be met with the God-awful wrathful creature that is ME. And you don't want that.

So Anyway~! Knuckles and the Chaotix, and all related characters, obviously don't belong to me. o-o …  *ignores muffled shrieking coming from closet* …because if I did, they'd be tied up in my ..^__^;.. room… somewhere! SHUT UP IN THERE! O`o …-silence-….

…. And I'd be relatively rich. Noealani does, however, belong to me. So like, don't steal her, y'dig? Yeah. W0rd. Let's get this show on the road, shall we? ^_^

**Frangipani**

"Get your tail OUT OF MY FACE," said an annoyed voice, in a loud, sibilant whisper. The sound of a palm-swat soon resounded, a yelp following its wake.

"Man, what the HELL. Get your FACE out of my tail," Another voice retorted, indignant.

"Shut UP, both of you!" 

The third voice, belonging to Knuckles the echidna, suddenly piped in, vexed. He glared at the two perpetrators; two of his three brothers-in-arms, apprentice guardians, so to speak. Vector the crocodile, and Espio the chameleon. Who, at that precise moment, were too busy glowering venomously at one another to pay much attention. Mighty the armadillo was just behind them, looking generally nonplussed. Quibbles between those two were obviously a daily, if not hourly, occurrence.

The echidna heaved an exasperated sigh, and rose quietly to his knees, to peek over the boulder the four were hiding behind. They were situated at the very edge of a rustic campsite, belonging to the Dark Legion. A squadron of about fifty soldiers had set up camp in a clearing just adjacent to a thick jungle area. Knuckles had of course come to know about it, and had decided to investigate. Wherever the Dark Legion was, trouble couldn't be tagging too far behind. As it was, trusted informants had let him know that that particular legion camp was holding a hostage- a prisoner. And Knuckles couldn't have that, now could he?

Espio peered over their cover as well, his sharp eyes quickly assessing the situation. He then turned to the crimson echidna by his side, his expression serious.

"There are six armed guards covering the perimeter of the campsite, I'd say. And that tent over there," he nodded towards a slightly larger tent, with two legionnaires standing watch, "is where they're keeping the captive. All the rest are obviously armed in some way or the other. Considering the odds are fifty to four…"

Knuckles scoffed. "We can easily take those odds."

"True, but do you really want to risk putting the hostage in danger? I know that if _I_ were being ambushed by us, the first thing I'd do is grab the guy, and threaten to kill him."

"Man, what the hell you on? Knux can pull one of his chaos-dude tricks, and fry 'em all crispy-like before they even know what hit 'em. Then we can just grab the hostage dude, and high-tail it outta here," Vector interjected, haughtily. "Let's just take 'em head on, it's no biggie!"

Knuckles frowned at the green crocodile, his brow furrowing. He rather liked the head-on idea, himself- but he knew he'd be putting the hostage into considerable danger, if they ambushed the camp. He turned and slumped against the boulder, staring at the ground in contemplation.

"We can't very well _sneak_ in, there are too many of them to go unnoticed. And how do you suppose we get past the two sentries at the hostage tent? We can't take them out without arising immediate suspicion."

Espio smirked, jabbing a thumb towards himself, arrogantly. "Let _me_ handle the sneaking. I've got copious camouflage abilities, remember?"  
"That's fine for going into the tent, but how do you think you'll get out?" Mighty piped in, shaking his head. "The camouflage ability only works on you. It'd look pretty weird if the hostage came floating out of the tent. That'd alert everyone in less than like, five seconds."

Knuckles lifted his head, and looked at his three companions, a grin on his face. "We _could_ sneak in through the back of the tent, somehow. From what I've seen, it's situated right at the edge of the campsite. We could pop in unnoticed, grab the guy, and run the hell away before they notice anything wrong."

Vector let out rather a loud chuckle, which earned him a hand clasped over his maw, to keep him from making any more noise. After a quick look to make sure nobody_ heard_ that, they all nodded their heads in agreement. That seemed like the best way to go about the task at hand.

"Now look," warned Knuckles, eyeing the other three seriously, "see that you don't make a sound. It's best if we avoid a fight altogether, and leave the soldiers to wonder who did the deed, instead of starting somethin'." He glanced towards Mighty, who blinked back with a vague expression. 

"What?"

"What do you say to going in by yourself, and taking the hostage? We'll back you up if anything happens. We can't _all_ go in, in case the soldiers decide to scout the perimeter, and notice us. Vector, Espio and I will stand guard outside, and silence any nosey legionnaires before they can sound the alarm."

Mighty nodded, flashing a crooked grin. "I think I can handle that."

"Good, it's settled then," said the echidna, pleased. "Let's see if we can't sneak around back, and give those morons a surprise!"

"Quiet tonight," quipped a dark legionnaire, gazing indistinctly about. He was one of the sentries standing guard at the hostage tent, partner with another, standing just opposite. The other scoffed, and hiked up his blaster, glowing eyes narrowing within the blackness of his hood.

"Too quiet," He barked, gruffly. "Just keep your eyes peeled. Ain't nobody but us appreciate the fact that we've taken that woman prisoner."

"Is she awake?" 

"Not that I know of. The little spitfire had to be sedated, before she stopped kicking around."

The first legionnaire raised a brow, and peered into a crack in the tent folds momentarily. A figure lay silhouetted against the light, strapped to a medical bed of sorts. She didn't stir. Satisfied, the soldier pulled his head back, and offered the other a wry grin.

"Good thing, too. That bitch was screaming like a banshee before. Would have gotten the attention of the entire _island_ if she'd kept going." 

The other shrugged, grinning as well. "If she wakes up, they'll just shoot 'er up again. She'll learn to keep quiet eventually, unless she wants to die from Valium overdose."

"What does Dimitri want with her, anyway? She's awful thin. Doesn't look like she could make a good ally."

"Appearances can be deceiving," said the other, with a shrug. "Though I have no clue what purpose she'll serve, either. We will see when Lord Dimitri arrives."

The first soldier nodded, and resumed gazing stonily about, his blaster armed and ready. The other followed suit, and all was silent again. Little did the two know that at that precise moment, a flap at the back of the tent had been lifted, and Mighty the armadillo was crawling in, fully intent on stealing away with Dimitri's prize.

            Mighty blinked hard a few times, his eyes having to adjust to the dark interior of the tent. It was dimly lit, only by a few oil candles, burning merrily on a wooden table nearby. A small surgical trolley was parked beside it, on which rested various syringes, bottles containing pills and powders, and a test-tube rack, stacked with cylinders filled by suspicious-looking liquids. On the bottom layer of the trolley was a metal tray, carrying gauze, bandages, a bisturi, and a pair of scissors. Mighty frowned to see the syringes and chemical components. He took a sniff at the air. It was heavy with the scent of disinfectant. Wrinkling his nose, Mighty rushed over by the side of the captive, and took a quick look at who he was dealing with. The first thing he noticed was that it was a girl, not a man. Upon closer inspection, he realized she was also quite thin, and painfully frail to look at.  
_Just like a porcelain doll_, he thought to himself sadly, working on undoing the restraints around her wrists and ankles. _It's almost as if she might shatter if you touched her._ Carefully he took the fragile creature into his strong, capable arms, and lifted her off the bed, without so much as an ounce of effort. His eyes widened a little. She weighed almost nothing! Underfeeding being the most likely cause. He snarled slightly to himself, and gently moved the girl's head against his shoulder, giving her what little comfort he could. Judging from her appearance, she had probably been going without food for at least six days. How could anyone treat another being like this?

A sudden, irritated hiss promptly brought him out of his thoughts, making him jump. It was Espio, who was none too pleased at hanging about outside for so long.

"Mighty! Aren't you _ever_ coming out? Hurry up, we can't stay here forever!"

Mighty's ears perked upright, embarrassed at his loss of attention. He nodded firmly, and scrambled back out as quickly as he could, letting the tent flap flutter back down as he exited. 

"Sorry about that. I got sidetracked," he muttered, apologetically.

"It's all right," whispered Knuckles, already darting towards the thick jungle immediately behind them. "Come on, let's get outta here, before they notice anything amiss. Once we get out of range, we can take a good look at this person."  
The others nodded, and darted off silently, almost immediately lost within the confusion of the foliage. Vector smirked to himself as he leapt and dodged effortlessly through the trees and plants, thinking with glee of the nasty surprise the legionnaires were to have.

_Dimitri's gonna flip shit when he realizes his prize is gone,_ he snickered to himself. _I wish I could be there to watch, when those poor fucks on guard come to terms with him…_


	2. The Girl

Knuckles and the Chaotix finally arrived to a small clearing in the jungle, panting with the effort of their rapid escape. A small lake rippled in the middle of it, the clear water inviting to the tired four. Espio huffed exhaustively, and collapsed at the shore on his back, arms flung out carelessly beside him. 

"I sure as hell hope they don't wake up _too_ soon, and come after us."

"No worries, m'man!" Chuckled Vector, joining the chameleon, and also letting himself slump unceremoniously onto the sandy shoreline. "They're probably still oblivious, thinkin' he's just bein' quiet."

"He?" Grinned Mighty, still holding the girl in his arms. The other three raised their eyebrows, in mild astonishment. They were so concerned with getting out of there, that they hadn't even stopped to notice that the person they rescued was, indeed, female.

"So it's a chick?" Grinned Vector, wolfishly. "Sweet. We could use some females 'round here. Is she hot?"

Mighty sent him a firm glare, walking to a boulder, and setting the frail woman down, propping her up against the solid surface. "She's horribly thin, and she's out like a windblown candle. I think that's our main concern right now," he added, coldly. Vector shrugged, smiling vaguely.

"Spoilsport. Well, let's see what we got."

All four gathered around the girl, taking her in from top to bottom. She was actually quite pretty, now that they could all see her clearly. She was a feline, in her late teens perhaps, her fur a dark, ashen brown. Even though she was thin from lack of food, she had some nice curves, accentuated by the dirty white midriff tee she was wearing, and low-hanging khaki pants, baggy around the leg. She wore white sneakers on her feet, also dirty and worn. Her hair was platinum in color, and cut short, framing a beautiful little face with exotic, dainty features. They couldn't determine the color of her eyes, as they were still closed. She wore a harassed look on her face, even in her sleep, and Knuckles was concerned.

"She's in a bad way, guys. We need to rouse her, and get some food and water into her. Those assholes probably used some sort of sedative to make her chill out- and without having had food, those meds are likely to have some _bad_ effects."

The other three looked at him, growing concerned, as well. Even Vector looked serious, and bit back his perverse comments on the pretty girl. 

"So how to we wake her up?" Asked Mighty softly, reaching a hand out to brush a stray strand of hair from the girl's eyes. "We don't have smelling salts, or any stimulants handy. I didn't think of taking the stuff in the test-tubes, 'cause I didn't know what it was."

Knuckles took a step forward, frowning. "Let me handle it. Maybe I can wake her up, by channeling some chaos energy into her." Espio winced, visibly fretful of the idea.

"Isn't that dangerous?"

"Not in small amounts, it isn't."

"How do you know you'll give her the right amount?"  
Knuckles glowered at the chameleon, narrowing his eyes in annoyance. "Dude, I _live_ with Chaos Energy. If anybody knows everything about it, it's me. Just trust me on this, okay?"

Espio sighed, but nodded, taking a step back from the girl. "Do your stuff then, mister Guardian."

Knuckles smirked, and waved his hands at the other three, ushering them back a few steps. "Give me some room, I need to focus the energy into myself first, before I can channel it into her."****

Knuckles closed his eyes, kneeling by the girl, a look of intense concentration on his face. The other three looked on, anxiously.

"I hope this works," whispered Mighty to the two at his side, voicing what they were all thinking at that precise moment.

"It will. Knux knows what he's doing," Espio assured them, nodding. "He wouldn't do this, if he knew it meant putting her life at an even greater risk."

"She's pretty damn cute, don't you think?"

"Vector, shut _up_." 

"No, I'm serious!"

"Exactly," said Mighty, in a droll sort of voice. "So shut up. And don't you dare go hitting on her the moment she wakes up. The poor thing will probably be disoriented and afraid of us. We don't want to give her a bad impression from the start."

"Chill dude, I'm not a sexual deviant!" Argued Vector, indignantly. "I'll be good. Jeez." Mighty muttered a few things to himself under his breath, while Espio looked on, clearly amused. Vector glowered to himself, arms folded, staring at Knuckles' back.

"Are you DONE yet?" He snapped, irritably. Knuckles glared shortly back at him, an emerald-green aura outlining his body, emitting a low hum.

"What did I say about being _quiet_?" He barked out. Vector started a little, frowning, but said no more.

The echidna turned his back on the other three again, inhaling deeply, and sighing heavily through his nose. He looked down at the girl lying before him, and hesitantly reached his hand out, placing it against her forehead. The green aura intensified around his hand, and flashed once, before dimming down again, and continuing its eerie, energy-induced humming. Knuckles opened his eyes, watching for any signs that the girl's body might reject the energy. He didn't know anything about her, after all. After a few seconds of surveyed channeling, he slowly removed his hand from her forehead, and shuffled back a slight, staring at her expectantly.

_C'mon… wake up!_ He pleaded mentally, as the other three scuffled closer again. _Please wake up…_

Surely enough, Espio's sharp eyes noted a twitch of her right hand, the ever-so-slight shift of her arms- the furrowing of her brow. His voice rose excitedly, catching Knuckles by a shoulder, and giving him a shake, pointing.

"She's waking up! You did it, Knux!"

Knuckles grinned to himself, also noticing her movements. "Quick, prop her upright. She might feel a little nauseous when she regains full consciousness."

Mighty hastily obliged, stepping over to the other side, and kneeling beside her, warily propping her up straighter into his arms. She gave a sudden cough, and for a minute, he thought the girl was going to be sick- but instead, her eyes snapped open, and she stared up at the guy holding her, with wide, astonished eyes. Her eyes were like gemstones- a mixture of orange and crimson, a color somehow attractively offset with her dark complexion, and pale hair.  Mighty felt himself blush at her fixed stare, but he managed a small, nervous smile.

"Hi. Don't be scared, you're in good hands now…"

The girl seemed to relax at the soft, warm voice, and the friendly expression on Mighty's face. She trembled a little, and he suddenly felt compelled to hold her tighter. It didn't seem right that such a frail creature should feel unprotected at any time. He dared not hold her tighter, for fear of scaring her, or breaking her somehow- but the girl seemed to take things into her own hands, and shifted closer, snuggling herself against him, reveling in the warmth. Her trembling died down a little, but a look of alarm was still etched on her face, as she gazed shyly around at the others. Mighty's cheeks reddened a little more, but he swallowed, and smiled kindly at the girl.

"It's all right, they're with me. You're not at the camp anymore. You're among friends, now."

_Author's Note: _Sorry this second chapter is so short. X.x I wrote it as a little bit tonight, to add on to the story, and not leave it hanging all weird. x_@ ~ Third part's to come soon I'm hoping, as soon as I make myself coherent again. =3; Ah. And because I think I suck _ass_ at describing appearances, I thought I'd link to a little sketch I drew of Lani, a while ago. o-o; so here she is: www.deviantart.com/view/3331615/ ._. yearrrr.

Oh, and just so you know, the Frangipani is a flower. C_c you'll see wtf I mean later on in the story. Why I gave the story that title, anyway.


	3. Carelessness

The others took cautious steps closer to Mighty as he held the girl to him, not wanting to spook her more than she already was. Vector dropped his "fly" demeanor for once, and smiled reassuringly at the girl, his crimson eyes kind and compassionate.

"Hey there, Miss! You feelin' okay? Are you hurt?"

The girl shook her head slowly, seeming a little apprehensive of Vector's presence. He was a good two heads taller than her, and seemed simply enormous to someone as fragile as she was. Mighty chuckled at her anxious expression, and offered her a grin.

"Don't worry. He's not as scary as he looks. His name's Vector. That's Espio," he said, motioning towards the chameleon, who offered a small smile, "and that's Knuckles." He gestured towards the red echidna, who grinned comradely, and bowed his head a little in greeting. "And I'm Mighty," he added timidly, the red still evident on his cheeks. "Can you talk? What's your name?"

"N-Noealani," she stammered, in a soft voice. She had a young, feminine voice- but it was quite ruined by a hoarseness brought on from lack of water, and most likely, excess of screaming. "Noealani Eliz… j-just… Lani, to most." She coughed forcefully, her eyes closed tight, and Mighty rubbed her back a little, his ears pinning against his head in concern.

"Well, Lani… can you stand? We're gonna go to that little lake over there, and get you a drink of water… I can carry you, if you can't stand on your own."

"I can stand, I think." She tried to gain her footing, gently helped by Mighty, and slowly stood up- but the armadillo noticed a rather uncertain shakiness about her legs. 

"Well, we've got _standing_ down… now can you _walk_?" 

The feline smiled vaguely, waving a hand dismissively at the idea. "Sure can, don't worry about it," she assured. After gingerly rolling one ankle, and then the other, she stood a little straighter, and shuffled towards the lake, with an air of nonchalance not at all familiar to most who'd just been through an ordeal. Mighty trailed after her warily, in case she ended up toppling over unexpectedly. Noealani cast a glance over a shoulder at him, and chortled, the corners of her lips pulling up into another faint smile. "Seriously- I'm fine, you know."

"You're dehydrated and underfed."

"It's been six days, not six weeks. I'm good, really I am." Wasting little time, she hurriedly knelt by the edge of the lake, cupped her hands together, and scooped up some fresh water, bringing it to her lips. Mighty stood a little way behind her, watching. The girl's thin frame trembled as she leaned over the water, in a mixture of anticipation and frailty. She took in eight big gulps of water, one following the other in rapid succession, before she simply let herself fall onto her backside, with a contented sigh. Vector came up behind Mighty, with another of his toothy grins.

"Better, 'Lani?"

The young feline glanced over a shoulder again, her countenance not looking so pale and parched. She smiled again, with a small nod, and stood, her legs seemingly holding her up a little better than before.

"Much, thank y-…"

Mighty's eyes widened in distress, as the girl suddenly clutched her head, gave a heart-rending whimper, and collapsed into a heap on her knees, hunched over as if in great pain. Knuckles, who had been watching from a small distance, hurried over to her immediately.

"Noealani?! What's the matter, where does it hurt?" 

No response. The girl seemingly couldn't even bring herself to utter a word, in the great state she was in. Another shudder rocked her body, so violent that she could hardly keep herself from falling to one side. Knuckles clasped one of her shoulders, a deep frown on his face.

"Must be the valium, still. That stuff doesn't exactly work out of one's system quickly."

"Should we take her to the hospital?" Asked an alarmed Mighty, which had knelt by her other side in concern.

"Do that green glowy stuff again, Knux!"

"I can't, Vector. It'd be impossible to use Chaos energy more than once in the state she's in, without causing further damage. We can't take her to the hospital- there must be some reason Dimitri wanted this girl, and as I'm not quite sure what this reason _is_, it's best she's kept away from public places as much as possible. We'll have to take care of her ourselves." He paused for a second, and took another look at the feline, before raising his gaze to meet Mighty's nervous one. "Mighty, let's take her to your place. It's a bit bigger than any of ours. I'll run home and grab a Medical dictionary, maybe it'll be of some use. You two," he added, nodding towards the chameleon and crocodile, "follow Mighty. Make her as comfortable as possible, and keep her warm. Don't let her move too much. If she's sick, turn her to one side." 

"A'ight." Nodded Vector, hastily. Mighty had already scooped the trembling creature up in his arms, and was making fast tracks towards his cave home, calling back at the other two, as Knuckles darted off in the opposite direction.

"Hurry up, you guys! The sooner we get her settled, the sooner we can figure out how to make her feel better." 

            Komissar paced back and forth within the now empty captive's tent, a vehemently irritated look on her face. Her blue eyes glinted spitefully, suddenly whirling on a heel, shrieking furiously at the two scared legionnaires before her.

"How could you _not_ notice that the prisoner had been taken away?! Imbeciles! INCOMPETENTS! I'll have you both killed for this!"

"B-but… Lady Komissar," one of the men broke in meekly, "she didn't make a sound, and we thought she was still asleep…" The legionnaire's meekness only seemed to rouse Komissar's anger all the more, and his faint protest was met at once with a backhand that sent him sprawling to the ground. She towered over his cowering form and bellowed, red in cheek with her intense rage.

"FOOL! Are you so inherently _stupid _that you don't sense anything is amiss?! Dimitri will be here any _minute_ now, and when he hears that the girl has been taken away, he'll have the lot of you eviscerated! IDIOTS!" She reeled a foot back, and caught the soldier in his side, causing him to yelp, and roll over with a deep, agonized groan. The other soldier stood a little way off, looking as if he were going to faint away at any given moment. His whole form trembled. Komissar was definitely not one to piss off. She whirled, icy eyes blazing, and boring into the shivering other like gimlets. Her tone suddenly turned distasteful and condescending, and she gave him a violent push, which sent him stumbling back some steps.

"It's so damn _difficult_ to find good help these days. No matter- in the state she was in, she can't have gone far. The little flower will soon be found." With a toss of her pretty head, the voluptuous female echidna sauntered to the opening in the tent, giving a firm nod to the other two legionnaires standing guard.

"Take those two inept pups, and kill them. I'll radio ahead to Lord Dimitri, and update him on this rather unfortunate turn of events." The tent flap closed, and Komissar distanced herself hastily from the tent, spiked heels tip-tapping confidently onto the dirt. She blatantly ignored the muffled cries of the two careless guards, and the laser shots that rang out sonorously, silencing them. Smirking darkly to herself, she retreated into her own makeshift dwelling, intent on her task.

_We'll find you, you dirty little brat. Even if we have to strike Aurora herself from the sky to do so._

Whee, third chappy up. :3 Sorry if it's a bit uneventful and short, or something. I'm sleepy, it's almost 3 am… n.n thanks to those of you who have reviewed so far, though. :D I wuv you within the deepest cockles of my heart. Fourth chapter shall be up soon~! It'll clear Lani's story up a little, methinks. The reason for the kidnapping will be revealed~! Whoopeee~

Keep reading, y'all. :3 Later! 


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